Research Report
Dr. Bridget Ryan and PhD candidate Dr. Kamila Premji were featured in the June 18th edition of “Schulich in the Media”, Medical Xpress and CBC London Morning reporting on their new research titled “More family doctors are nearing the age of retirement, raising concern about future of primary care”.
Hot Off the Presses! We’re pleased to share that 2 research papers and 2 commentaries by Department of Family Medicine faculty members, staff and graduate students are published in the current themed issue of the Canadian Family Physician, ‘Using Research to Navigate the Primary Care Crisis in Canada’. According to the editors, “articles published in this special issue of CFP exceeded a high bar for relevance and quality”.
Burden of administrative responsibilities in primary care - Qualitative study
Judith Belle Brown, Cathy Thorpe, Sharon Bal, Catherine George, Saadia Hameed Jan, Maria Mathews, Kamila Premji, Bridget L. Ryan and Amanda L. Terry
Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) e148-e153; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106e148
Trends colliding - Aging comprehensive family physicians and the growing complexity of their patients
Kamila Premji, Richard H. Glazier, Michael E. Green, Shahriar Khan, Maria Mathews, Steve Nastos, Eliot Frymire, Susan E. Schultz and Bridget L. Ryan
Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) 406-416; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106406
Equipping family physicians to thrive - Scholarship as a core competency
Helena Piccinini-Vallis, Douglas Archibald, Kris Aubrey-Bassler, Julie Bruneau, Isabelle Gaboury, Andrea Gruneir, Fiona Kouyoumdjian, Jean-Sébastien Paquette, Vivian R. Ramsden, Peter Selby, Alexander G. Singer, Amanda L. Terry, Isabelle Vedel and Ginetta Salvalaggio
Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) e105-e107; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106e105
Stepwise considerations when using artificial intelligence tools for administrative tasks in primary care
Amanda L. Terry, Keith Thompson, Sian Tsuei and Daniel J. Lizotte
Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) e90-e93; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106e90
TUTOR-PHC 2025 Annual Conference and Symposium Report
Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research – Primary Health Care (TUTOR-PHC) 2025 Annual Symposium TUTOR-PHC held its annual Conference and Symposium from April 28th to May 1st at the Kingsbridge Centre in King City, ON. The Symposium is the start of the year-long TUTOR program. We welcomed our 22nd cohort of the TUTOR-PHC program, which is the only interdisciplinary primary health care research training program in Canada.
The Symposium was attended by a total of 18 trainees, with 13 trainees from across Canada, 1 trainee each from Australia, New Zealand, UK, Netherlands and Brazil. Eighteen TUTOR-PHC mentors from across Canada also attended the Symposium and helped to lead the workshops and training sessions, as well as building working relationships with the trainees, thereby increasing the network of primary health care researchers across Canada. This year, we also welcomed our first patient partner trainee.
The trainees were joined by three patient partners, Ron Beleno, Lori Letcher and Sandra Mackenzie, who facilitated a session on patient and community engagement in research.
Department members Amanda Terry, Judith Belle Brown and Graham Reid led components of the Symposium for the trainees in attendance.
The Brown Bag Seminar series is held virtually the second Wednesday of the month from noon to 1pm and features current research. The June seminar was presented by Dr. Aline Oliveira, MClSc graduate, presenting her work on exploring the process of care with elevated cardiovascular risk by Brazilian family physicians.
These seminars will break for July and August and begin again in September 2025 with a new series of speakers. You can visit our website to see past presentations.
If you are interested in attending these virtual seminars, please reach out to Leslie.Meredith@schulich.uwo.ca to receive the Zoom invitation.
Faculty News
Dr. Merrick Zwarenstein is part of a research group leading an update to the PRECIS-2 guideline for conducting trials for decision making (pragmatic trials), funded by the Irish Research Board. The first draft of the update has been completed (PRECIS 3) and 3 global online meetings have been held to collect responses. These are now being incorporated into a second draft. The final version is expected within a year.
Staff Retirement
Please help us congratulate Evelyn Levy, Administrative Assistant, on her retirement. Evelyn has been an integral part of the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine for over 20 years and has worked with many faculty members. Thank you, Evelyn, for your dedication and hard work! Best wishes for your retirement!
Unnur Brown Leadership Award in Health Policy
The Department of Family Medicine is once again pleased to invite applications for the Unnur Brown Leadership Award in Health Policy. The Award Criteria and Application Form are attached for your reference. Please note, the deadline to receive applications is 11:59 p.m. on September 30th. Should you have any questions, please contact Kim Champion, Administrative Assistant (Research Dissemination & Office Coordinator), Centre for Studies in Family Medicine kim.champion@schulich.uwo.ca.
In the Media
Interview, Media Relations & Knowledge Translation (Lifestyle Research Team – PI: RJ Petrella)
Lifestyle program geared at hockey fans helps improve men’s health. The University of British Columbia Magazine – Alumni UBC. June 5, 2025. Link to UBC Magazine Article.
Presentations
daSilva M, Ryan BL, Brown JBB, Freeman T. Creating a Model for Choosing between Virtual and In-Person Family Physician Visits: Incorporating Patient and Family Physician Perspectives. SPARQ 2025 CQUINS Quality Improvement Symposium, London, ON, May 2025. Poster Presentation.
RJ Petrella & DP Gill. Sport Fandom as an Engagement Innovation in Hard-to-Reach Populations: A Cluster RCT to Evaluate a Community-Based Health Behaviour Change Intervention. Centre for Studies in Family Medicine (CSFM) – Brown Bag Seminar Series – Virtual Presentation. Department of Family Medicine, Western University. May 14, 2025.
Styffe C, Blunt W, Hirsh C, Huang A, Petrella R. HeatheSteps - Providing UBC Students with Curriculum to Support Their Skills in Lifestyle Counseling for Prevention of Chronic Disease. 2025 TLEF and ALT-2040 Virtual Showcase. University of British Columbia. April 24 2025. (Poster Presentation)
Tassiopoulos, K.N., Puka, K., Bax, K., Vingilis, E., Speechley, K.N. Beyond ‘Does it Work?’: An as-treated analysis of how Making Mindfulness Matter© improves health-related quality of life in children with epilepsy. (Poster presentation). Child Health Research Day, May 20, 2025, London, ON.
Wickens, C. M., Vingilis, E., Jonah, B., Suggett, B., Yasanthi, R. G. N., Stoduto, G., Lavalliere, M., Martin, R., Thompson, R., Beirness, D., Johnson, M., & Ward, N. Traffic safety enforcement: A protocol to survey police officers in Ontario. Paper presented at the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals (CARSP)/ International Cooperation on Theories and Concepts in Traffic Safety (ICTCT) 2025 Road Safety Conference, May 20-23, 2025, Québec City, Québec, Canada.
Opportunity to participate in research project on the Primary Care Diabetes Support Program (PCDSP)
We are looking for a few more participants, especially family physicians who have used the PCDSP service.
Please reach out to gyoung57@uwo.ca if you can spare approximately 20 minutes to provide your input on referring your patients to the PCDSP.
Who is eligible?
- Health care providers who have referred patients to the Primary Care Diabetes Support Program.
What does participation require?
- Read and sign the Letter of Information and Consent.
- a short interview to share your experiences of referring to the PCDSP program including the nature of your interactions with PCDSP, coordination of care as well as the program’s impact on patients and providers and whether your practice type has any impact on referring.
We would love to hear about your experiences with this primary care led program! You will be compensated for your time.
Publications
Brown JB, Thorpe C, Bal S, George C, Jan SH, Mathews M, Premji K, Ryan BL, Terry AL. Burden of administrative responsibilities in primary care - Qualitative study. Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) e148-e153; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106e148
Curnew D, Lukewich J, Leamon T, Mathews M, Poitras ME, Stevens K, Romme K, Ryan D. Integration of primary care education into undergraduate nursing programs: A scoping review. Nurse Educ Pract. 2025 May 12;86:104391. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2025.104391. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40403398.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40403398/
Edouard P, Iatropoulos S, Velebova K, McCallion C, Kiss M, Dandrieux PE, Branco P, Thornton J, Hollander K. National Medical Teams during European Athletics Championships from 2009 To 2024: Composition, Gender Distribution, and Influence on Team Performance. Sports Med Open. 2025 May 15;11(1):53. doi: 10.1186/s40798-025-00864-3. PMID: 40372657; PMCID: PMC12081799.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40372657/
Friedman DJ, Hughes D, Thornton JS, Saw R, Girdwood M, Wells KR, Crossley KM. Bringing reproductive, pelvic and breast health to light: insights from the Health of Elite Retired Australian female athletes survey (HER-Aus). Br J Sports Med. 2025 May 2:bjsports-2024-109328. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2024-109328. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40316290. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40316290/
Hart HF, White DK, Reichert SM, Stefanik JJ. Associations of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, Pain, Function and Quality of Life with Diabetes and Knee Osteoarthritis: Data From the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Musculoskeletal Care V.23, I2, June 2025, e70128. Pub. June 10 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/msc.70128
Hettiarachchige, R. O., Rapoport, M. J., Naglie, G., Vingilis, E., Seeley, J., Alizadeh, S., Bayat, S. (2025). Common driving behaviours in older adults with dementia: Insights from a systematic literature review. Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 21:e70340. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.70340
Idrees S, Mathews M, Hedden L, Lukewich J, Marshall EG, Kean K, Lyons R, Wickett J, Meredith L, Ryan D, Spencer S, Dufour É, Gill P. The Implementation of Infection Prevention and Control Procedures in Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Roles. J Nurs Manag. 2025 May 18;2025:6634676. doi: 10.1155/jonm/6634676. PMID: 40421169; PMCID: PMC12103967.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40421169/
Kaneko M, Ohta R, Mathews M. Rural and urban disparities in access and quality of healthcare in the Japanese healthcare system: a scoping review. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 May 9;25(1):667. doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-12848-w. PMID: 40346516; PMCID: PMC12063375.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40346516/
Lin YK, Black JE, Harris SB, Ryan BL, Zou G, Ratzki-Leewing A. Young adults with type 2 diabetes experience high rates of Level 3 Hypoglycemia: A subgroup analysis of the Real-World iNPHORM cohort. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2025 Jul;225:112230. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2025.112230. Epub 2025 May 6. PMID: 40339701. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40339701/
Lukewich J, Myles S, Ryan D, Braithwaite S, Poitras ME, Curnew D, Mathews M. Education for Registered Nurses in Primary Care: Current and Future Trends. Nurs Leadersh (Tor Ont). 2025 Mar;37(SP):27-40. doi: 10.12927/cjnl.2025.27554. PMID: 40219743. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40219743/
Lukewich J, Ryan D, Mathews M, Hedden L, Marshall EG, Vaughan C, Idrees S, Bulman D, Renaud LR, Cusack C, Martin-Misener R, Bruneau J, Wickett J, Asghari S, Meredith L, Spencer S, Young G. Nurses Leading the Way: A Qualitative Study of Nursing Leadership, Innovation and Opportunity in Primary Care During a Public Health Crisis. Nurs Leadersh (Tor Ont). 2025 Mar;37(SP):77-95. doi: 10.12927/cjnl.2025.27551. PMID: 40219746. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40219746/
Neudorf B, Koblinsky N, Power K, Binns M, Fiocco AJ, Rotenberg S, Marzolini S, Oh P, Thornton J, Ajwani F, Sullivan K, Chevalier S, Russell C, Ferland G, Anderson ND, Middleton LE. Rationale and protocol of the LEAD 2.0 study: a randomized controlled trial assessing the feasibility of a virtually delivered 6-month exercise and nutrition intervention in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD). Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2025 May 10;11(1):64. doi: 10.1186/s40814-025-01626-4. PMID: 40349092; PMCID: PMC12065297. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40349092/
Piccinini-Vallis H, Archibald D, Aubrey-Bassler K, Bruneau J, Gaboury I, Gruneir A, Kouyoumdjian F, Paquette JS, Ramsden VR, Selby P, Singer AG, Terry AL, Vedel I, Salvalaggio G. Equipping family physicians to thrive - Scholarship as a core competency. Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) e105-e107; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106e105
Premji K, Glazier RH, Green ME, Khan S, Mathews M, Nastos S, Frymire E, Schultz SE, Ryan BL. Trends colliding - Aging comprehensive family physicians and the growing complexity of their patients. Canadian Family Physician June 2025; 71 (6) 406-416; DOI: https://doi.org/10.46747/cfp.7106406
Snoek F, Galstyan G, Khan N, Tirosh A, Kesavadev J, Vargas-Uricoechea H, Baghous H, Mabunay MA, Grulovic N, Corp Dit Genti V, Msihid J, Harris S. Clinically meaningful improvements in treatment satisfaction in insulin-naïve people with type 2 diabetes post initiation of insulin glargine 300 U/mL: A post hoc analysis of real-world ATOS study. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2025 Jul;27(7):4011-4016. doi: 10.1111/dom.16415. Epub 2025 Apr 28. PMID: 40292754.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40292754/
Terry AL, Bayliss L, Meredith L, Law E, Van Hoorn R, Regan S. A Training Program to Support Patient Engagement in Primary Health Care Research: Co-Design, Implementation, and Evaluation Study. J Particip Med. 2025 Jun 5;17:e65485. doi: 10.2196/65485. PMID: 40472265.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40472265/
Terry, AL; Thompson, K; Tsuei, S; Lizotte, DJ Stepwise Considerations When Using Artificial Intelligence Tools for Administrative Tasks in Primary Care. 2025. Canadian Family Physician. 71 (6) e90-e93. DOI: 10.46747/cfp.7106e90. https://www.cfp.ca/content/71/6/e90 (June).
Thombs BD, Adams C, Nassar EL, Carrier ME, Golberg M, Bharthi K, Wurz A, South A, Kwakkenbos L, Hoa S, Rice DB, Guillot G, Lawrie-Jones A, Sauvé M, Bartlett SJ, Fortune C, Gietzen A, Gottesman K, Hudson M, Hummers LK, Malcarne VL, Mayes MD, Richard M, Stempel J, Wojeck RK, Blagrave K, Boruff JT, Cook V, Culos-Reed N, Fröbert O, Gillies K, Granikov V, Hemkens LG, Jimenez EY, Kocher A, Leite C, Lim MAWT, Maltez N, Michalski J, Mieszczak T, Ndosi M, Pope J, Rannou F, Rozee K, Straus SE, Sydes MR, Thabane L, Varga J, Yap T, Zwarenstein M, Mouthon L, Benedetti A; SPIN Investigators. Master protocol for a series of cohort-based randomized controlled trials to test tools to communicate research results to study participants and others with relevant lived experience: the SPIN-CLEAR Trials. Trials. 2025 May 8;26(1):149. doi: 10.1186/s13063-025-08846-2. PMID: 40340935; PMCID: PMC12060389.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40340935/
